48: Survival of the fittest

Fortunately, all three had consumed a considerable amount of cuisine that permanently boosted mental attributes, so after the monster was eliminated, the stinging pain and hallucinations lingering in their minds quickly subsided, and their decreasing SAN values rapidly recovered.

Gu Zhixia leaned against the cold bulkhead, letting out a long sigh, her chest heaving from rapid breathing.

She looked at Lin Mo, her phoenix eyes, usually as sharp as knives, now showing a rare hint of bewilderment.

“What… what do we do next?”

Lin Mo didn't answer immediately. His fingertips lightly traced the radar screen, which was now completely out of order, displaying only a disturbing static.

“If the ship’s super capacitor was full, I could try flying to an altitude of ten thousand meters to see if I could find the boundary of this black fog.”

His voice was calm, yet it carried an undisguised weariness.

“Unfortunately, too much energy was consumed earlier to deal with the Longxiang Fleet.”

Taking off rashly, if they ran out of energy in mid-air, or encountered another unforeseen monster, that would be a true dead end.

“Brother Mo, Big Sister, wait for me!”

Gu Nianqiu's voice came from the kitchen doorway. Her small face still bore tear stains, but a light had rekindled in her large eyes.

“I'm going to make you something delicious right now!”

She clenched her small fists, cheering herself on.

“Eating the cuisine I make will restore your spirits and give you the strength to chase away all the bad guys!”

With that, she turned and ran into the kitchen. Soon, the faint clatter of pots and pans could be heard from inside, becoming the only warm sound in the otherwise silent warship.

Gu Zhixia's gaze returned from the kitchen, her brows still tightly furrowed.

“If that eyeball monster comes a few more times, I don’t think our SAN values can withstand it.”

Her voice was very low.

“Moreover, no one knows what other unseen things are hidden in this damned black fog.”

“Don’t worry.”

Lin Mo's voice had a reassuring quality.

He leaned back in the captain's chair; although he was exhausted, his mind was exceptionally clear.

“We will continue to stockpile missiles.”

He brought up the workbench interface, which displayed the mountains of metal and gunpowder they had just acquired through trade.

“The area-of-effect explosion of missiles is very effective against these flesh-and-blood monsters.”

“If we encounter a crisis that we truly cannot handle, we will activate flight mode.”

He paused, his gaze sharpening.

“We will simply run away, dragging it out until radar and communications are restored 23 hours later.”

...Meanwhile.

On the other side of the black fog, the Longxiang Fleet's situation was not much better than hell.

Inside the Bridge of the flagship “Dragon Soaring”, the atmosphere was extremely tense.

The emergency red lights illuminated every crew member's face like a demon's.

“Boss… what do we do now…?”

Thunder Tiger's voice was hoarse, with an uncontrollable tremor.

Their ammunition was already scarce after the previous attrition battle with the Natural Selection.

After being engulfed by the black fog, they encountered a terrifying Giant Kun that defied all reason.

A Giant Kun floating in the sky.

Merely being brushed by the Giant Kun's silhouette, two frigates were instantly crushed into iron pancakes.

At the critical moment, Longyuan activated his trump card skill called “Latent Dragon in the Abyss”.

The entire fleet's hull was enveloped by a deep blue water curtain, forcibly diving hundreds of meters into the deep sea, barely escaping the catastrophe.

“In the trade… in the trade channel, no one is willing to exchange materials with us!”

Another crew member, Wang Ye, was almost in tears.

“They’re all looking for the one called ‘survival of the fittest’! He's exchanging a-rank cuisine; what can we compare to that?!”

“At this rate, we won't even be able to defend ourselves, let alone counterattack!”

“Shut up.”

Longyuan's voice was soft, yet it was like a cold knife, instantly plunging the entire Bridge into silence.

He had his back to everyone; no one could see his expression at this moment.

Only he knew that his brain was throbbing with excruciating pain, as if being pierced by countless steel needles.

That was the most terrifying backlash after his mental power had been overloaded.

He had never imagined that he would be pushed to such a desperate situation by an unknown ship.

First, buy time.

Find a way to replenish ammunition.

His cold gaze swept over the crew members trembling with fear.

If… they encountered another high-threat target.

He would have no choice but to… once again call upon his men.

Just then, a crew member responsible for lookout suddenly pointed in a certain direction outside the porthole, letting out a shriek that was off-key.

“Look! What’s that?!”

Longyuan sharply turned his head.

His pupils constricted fiercely.

Amidst the thick black fog, which was capable of devouring all hope, an extremely incongruous light was quietly flickering.

It wasn't the dim, powerless light of an emergency lamp.

Instead, it was a bright neon light, full of futuristic technological flair.

The light outlined the silhouette of a massive, sleek warship, full of industrial and sci-fi aesthetic beauty.

There was no mistake.

Absolutely no mistake!

It was it!

The Natural Selection!